


Sawdust Hearts

by CourierNinetyTwo



Category: RWBY
Genre: F/F, F/M, M/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-02
Updated: 2015-12-02
Packaged: 2018-05-04 12:34:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 724
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5334275
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CourierNinetyTwo/pseuds/CourierNinetyTwo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A post-ep recovery fic after Chapter 4 of Volume 3.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sawdust Hearts

If pressed, Coco would admit she’d eaten plenty of questionable things over the years – combining the munchies with a limitless credit card and access to kingdom-wide takeout wasn’t always the best plan – but there was something about the bowl Velvet was holding in front of her that made her gorge rise. It looked like soup, technically, but the broth was a little too thick, she couldn’t make out what any of the floating pieces of it were, and the mix was so boiling hot her new sunglasses were steaming up.

“I appreciate you and Fox giving us all the TLC, babe, but I  _really_  don’t want to eat that.” Trying not to grimace when a painful twinge shot up her ribs, Coco wrenched the expression up into a smile. “No offense.”

The brow arched her way proved Velvet was none too impressed. “It’ll take three days off your recovery time. My mother sent a bag of the raw ingredients with me when I left home for a reason.”

Coco’s teeth worried at the inside of her lip. The tournament doc had given both her and Yatsuhashi a week’s orders to keep horizontal – unfortunately, not in the fun way –  and cutting that in half was pretty tempting. “Three whole days, huh? What’s in it?”

Now Velvet was smiling, amusement tugging at the edge of her mouth. “Family secret. But it’ll give the kick your Aura needs right now.”

Reaching up to take the bowl was a bit precarious, but her fingers were still a bit shaky from the broken tide of adrenaline; spoons were out of the question. “Alright, you sold me. Can I just guzzle it down?”

“Yes, if you like.” Velvet leaned down, pressing a kiss to her brow. “I have extra for Yatsuhashi when he wakes up.”

“It might be a while.” Fox chimed in. “Doctor said he was lucky to land that hard without cracking his skull. Aura drain’s no joke.”

“All his vitals are fine.” Velvet said, a bit too quickly. “But you both scared the hell out of us.”

Fox’s head tilted at an odd angle, and Coco could feel the question that was coming. “What happened out there, anyway? I don’t want to add insult to injury, but both of you were–”

Empty white eyes flickered Velvet’s way before she finished with, “–off your game.” 

Twelve hours unconscious and twelve awake and Coco still didn’t have an answer for any of it. Something uneasy had settled in the pit of her stomach right after she had cleared the field at the start of the match, Emerald and Mercury gone without a sound or trace. Sure, the pair were good fighters – the whole Haven team was brutal, to be honest – but just thinking of that double that had popped up behind her, Yatsuhashi from head to toe,  _speaking_  to her, Coco shuddered.

“He wanted to kill us.” Yatsuhashi said, startling all of them as he very slowly sat up on his side of the bed. Bruises were stamped in a dark pattern across his chest and arms, each one a kick landed just past the limit Aura could take.

“What?” Fox asked.

“Mercury.” Blinking the fatigue out of his eyes, Yatsuhashi slowly rolled his shoulders back, drawing out a pop. “Every time he got close, I saw it in his eyes. People don’t pull their punches in the arena, but he…”

“Emerald too.” Coco cleared her throat, taking the rough edge off her words. “Right before she chucked me out of the ring, I thought that chain was going to go right around my neck and squeeze until something snapped.”

A low hiss filtered out between Fox’s teeth. “That’s messed up.”

“I understand wanting to win, but hurting you two wouldn’t give them any advantage.” Velvet blinked, brown eyes going wide. “Would it?”

“Maybe we should tell Ozpin.” Yatsuhashi said.

“ _After_  you two have recovered.” Climbing up onto the bed, Velvet settled in the empty space between him and Coco, offering a hand so Fox could feel his way past her fingertips. “Let’s get a little more sleep before we go coursing hares, huh?”

“I’ll full up on those.” Coco said with a grin, turning over so Velvet could curl up against her. “But yeah, tomorrow sounds better.”

At least they’d gotten out with a tomorrow in the cards.

\--


End file.
